by Seth Hemmelgarn

The landlord of a gay San Francisco man who's been missing
since September is demanding that a friend pay $4,000 by Friday, February 1
before he can retrieve the tenant's belongings, according to the friend.

Joe Gulliver, 60, a.k.a. Joe Balducci, was reported missing
September 5, according to the San Francisco Police Department. He had "a
history of depression" and was considered at risk, a police email said.

Arturo Jackson, 52, a longtime friend and former partner of
Gulliver's, said he spoke with Zelko Simoni, the landlord of Gulliver's
apartment at 800 Corbett Avenue in the Twin Peaks neighborhood, Saturday,
January 26.

Jackson said that Simoni told him if he didn't pay the money
by the first, he wouldn't let Jackson enter the unit, and he'd throw out Gulliver's
belongings. Jackson said he wouldn't be able to get the money until next week.

"That's heartless," Jackson said of the landlord's
demand. According to Jackson, who said Gulliver was a noted photographer,
remaining possessions likely include photos and a car worth $2,000.

Jackson, who lives in Sacramento, suspects Gulliver jumped
from the Golden Gate Bridge. Officials with the coroner division of the Marin County Sheriff and the San Francisco Medical Examiner said Wednesday, January 30 that
they haven't identified any bodies under either of Gulliver's names. Bodies that
haven't been unidentified didn't match his description.

Asked in a Tuesday, January 29 phone call with the Bay
Area Reporter about whether $4,000 had been
demanded, Renee Simoni said, "I don't know about that. No. ... I don't
think so. It's still in the hands of the court." She added, "It's
going through the legal process because Joe is disappeared or whatever."

San Francisco Superior Court documents indicate Renee Simoni
and Zelko Simoni are both owners of the property.

When asked to explain what she was talking about, Simoni
hung up the phone. She didn't respond to a follow-up message.

However, court records show that seeking an eviction, the
Simonis filed an unlawful detainer complaint against Gulliver in November.
According to the documents, a three-day notice to pay rent or quit was posted
at and mailed to Gulliver's unit, and possibly given to someone there, October
16. At that time, Gulliver owed one month's rent, which is listed as almost
$845.

Among other requests listed in the complaint, the Simonis
seek that amount and damages of about $28 a day beginning November 1 for each
day that Gulliver remained in possession through entry of judgment.

A judgment by default filed January 9 indicates that
Gulliver never responded to the complaint, so it was adjudged that the Simonis
recover the "restitution and possession" of the premises.

Brenda Cruz Keith, whom the court documents say is
representing the Simonis in the case, wasn't available for comment Wednesday
morning.

Told of the situation, Mark Nicco, assistant legal counsel
to the San Francisco sheriff, said if rent was owed and there hadn't been an action such as Gulliver
being declared dead, the unlawful detainer complaint could be "a legal
means to get possession of the property again."

Nicco said Jackson not being let into the unit unless he
pays $4,000 is "a judgment call." He added that the property owners
could open themselves to liability if they let someone into the apartment, and
it's "a hard position for the landlord to be in."

He said it was "a strange situation," though. He
also said, "We wouldn't become involved" until the unlawful detainer
case "played out in court and an eviction was ordered."

Tommi Avicolli Mecca, who works at the San Francisco Housing
Rights Committee and has spoken with Jackson, said of the $4,000, "I don't
know where that comes from." He said he didn't know of anywhere in the law
"that would make it be $4,000."

In an October interview, Jackson said that he'd last spoken
with Gulliver two months prior to that and that Gulliver "was struggling
to hold on to his apartment, which he'd been living in for 30 years. He was
very despondent and very depressed."

San Francisco police Inspector Anne MacKenzie said in
October that no notes, clothes, or other belongings of Gulliver's had been
found, and she didn't suspect foul play. MacKenzie didn't respond to a request
for comment Wednesday morning.

Anyone with information in the case may contact the SFPD
missing persons unit at (415) 558-5500 or the dispatch unit at (415) 553-0123.
The report number is 120 710 949.